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Monday, May 7, 2012

It’s Official: Samsung Galaxy S III is the Next Galaxy

Samsung officially unveiled its latest flagship device in London last May 3, 2012: Samsung Galaxy S III. Compared to its predecessor, this phone sports a rounded design, a bigger screen, quad core processor, but the same 8MP camera.

The Samsung Galaxy S III, deviates from the design philosophy of its predecessor which has a rectangular shape, angular, and a bump at the back. This new phone takes its resemblance from a pebble. The SIII sports rounded corners and smooth flowing lines. It’s like holding a smooth flat stone.

Unlike Galaxy S I and II, Samsung has eliminated the back accent, a design feature which helps gripping the phone. The thickest point of the phone is now at the middle. The textured back cover is also gone and Samsung instead opted for a glossy finish. There are two color variants, blue and white. The blue has a brushed metal finish. Samsung by the way, still used plastic materials for the exterior, which is not a bad thing for me because it doesn't interfere with signal reception.

The phone maintained its removable battery cover and user-replaceable battery. This is viewed as a good feature because users are given the option to purchase an additional battery pack or replace the batteries themselves without going to a service center. Inside, you can find the microSIM card slot, and microSD slots.

Hardware:

The most noticeable change in the Galaxy SIII is the screen. The phone has a significantly bigger display, a 4.8” Super AMOLED HD. This is the same display technology used in the Galaxy Note. It has a higher pixel density count of 306 ppi which is comparable to iPhone 4S Retina display. But it uses a PenTile Matrix pixel arrangement. To some users, this is a disappointment because Pentile Matrix uses an RGBG pixel arrangement which is not as smooth when viewed from a very close distance as compared to RGB pixels of LCD or Super AMOLED Plus.

The third Galaxy S is equipped with a 1.4 Ghz Quad Core Cortex-A9 processor which is slightly underclocked compared to the processor of One X, HTC's newest flagship device. This competitor phone is equipped with a 1.5 Ghz Quad Core Snapdragon processor. But in terms of speed, the Galaxy S III beats the HTC One X in benchmarks. Therefore, Samsung Galaxy S III is officially the fastest flagship device in the market.

The S III used the same 8MP camera of the S II, with an LED flash. What’s new is the improved 1.9MP front-facing camera. The phone can now take photos while shooting video clips. This is a feature also present in the HTC One X.

Another notable improvement is the enlarged battery size. The phone now comes with a 2,100 mAh battery, which is bigger than the 2,000 mAh of the Galaxy Note.

Software:

The Samsung Galaxy S III runs on the latest Android platform, 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich. There are also several new features present on the phone:

The S-Voice, which is a voice activated command similar to Siri. I believe this is a gimmick which will add coolness to the phone but will not add that much functionality. Much like what happened to Siri. Smart-stay tracking which detects you’re the user’s eye contact with the phone and adjusts brightness accordingly. I think this is a useful feature in terms of power-saving for the device. Free 50GB of cloud storage from Dropbox. This is a good feature if the person has a regular internet connection.

Conclusion:

There was a mixed feeling or reaction that I felt upon seeing the unveiled Samsung Galaxy S III. I was highly anticipating the announcement of this phone. But somehow, I did not completely feel delighted when photos and videos came out. When I saw the Galaxy S II last year, I was wowed by its thin profile and minimalist design. This year, I wasn’t impressed by the design unlike the newest flagship phones of Nokia and HTC.

On the other hand, this phone may not be a stunning-looking device but its performance can win a lot of fans. Reading the benchmarks and initial user experience, I could foresee this phone has the potential to exceed customers expectations. The in-depth discussion about the phone and fan reactions shall be another topic.

About the Author

He's a writer, professor, and a mobile tech enthusiast. A self-confessed fanboy, his fondness for Samsung Mobile brand started when he first owned a Samsung Omnia. He has since acquired various gadgets from Samsung, including Galaxy S, Galaxy Tab, Wave, etc. He currently owns a Galaxy S II.